Two fathers, a crime and two crumbled families

Once neighbours in an apartment complex in Mugalivakkam, Babu (36) and Sekhar (51) wish they never cross paths again.

The life they had always known was robbed off them on February 6 this year, when Babu’s seven-year-old daughter Hasini went missing outside her house. She was later found dead wrapped in a sack and dumped by the highway. Forensic reports confirmed that the child was also sexually assaulted before she was killed.

For Sekhar, it came as a rude shock when the police arrived at his doorsteps to arrest his elder son 23-year-old Dashwanth for the sexual assault and murder of Hasini.

Sekhar believed that his soft-natured son couldn’t have done whatever he was accused of and was willing to do anything to get him out of jail. He was even successful. But that turned out to be the biggest mistake of his life as within a few days of getting out on bail, Dashwanth reportedly killed his mother, stole her jewels and ran away from home.

Ten months have passed since Hasini died and much water has flowed under the bridge near which her body was found. Now, both the fathers are mere shadows of the men they used to be.

On one had, there is a father who lost his daughter and on the other hand, there is another man whose son killed his wife, Sarala and a son who stands trial for one of the worst crimes in recent history. A look at their careworn, despairing faces and one could easily guess that they have had countless sleepless nights.

“Nobody should undergo what I am going through. Stepping out of the house has become an ordeal. People stare, and I only wish to hide my face somewhere,” says Sekhar, who is currently living with his parents in the city.

Babu, on the other hand, is put up at his temporary residence with his family. An IT employee, he struggles to hold on to his job with all the media glare and the court proceedings. “I make sure that I am present at all hearings. The company where I work has been accommodative so far, but managing both has been a challenge. I still have to fill up my appraisal forms,” he shrugs.

He tries to hold on his own during the court proceedings. But emotions got better of him on December 18 at the Chengalpattu court. “A friend of mine showed me a newspaper article with Hasini’s face on it. She was smiling. With everything going around, it hit a raw spot and I couldn’t hold back my tears.”

The last time he was engulfed in this emotional turmoil was in September when he learned that Dashwanth got bail. “The man who killed my daughter was out on the streets.

I was livid. How could a murderer be allowed to roam freely? Hasini was gone but I couldn’t sleep thinking he could do something to some other child or some other woman,” he says.

A few days later, his worst fear came true.

“He killed his own mother. How could he?” For Sekhar, his eldest son is as good as dead. He last saw both his wife and Dashwanth on December 2. Recalling that ill-fated day, he says, “I had to leave early, at 5.30 am that day to work and Sarala came to drop me on her Scooty to the bus stand.

Dashwanth was sleeping then. That’s the last time I saw both of them.”

He knew something was not right when Sarala didn’t pick his calls later that day and Dashwanth’s phone was also switched off.

When the news of Sarla’s murder reached Babu, he was worried for the safety of his family.

“He had threatened me outside the Mahila Court premises in Chengalpattu and asked me to never come back. I filed a complaint immediately.

Ever since Dashwanth escaped, there were policemen outside our house. However, I couldn’t stop worrying. He had earlier threatened to kill my son too, and I stayed awake all night to check everything was okay.”

Later he came to know that Dashwanth had fled to Mumbai and was arrested on December 6 by a special team of the Chennai police. “He managed to escape again and was caught later.

I was later told that he had been planning on killing his father too,” says Babu.

“I was in the Kundrathur police station for four days. It was only through the police, I came to know about the escape and arrest,” says Sekhar.

Was he worried for my life? “The love of my life was taken away by the child I had done everything for. He might as well have taken my life. I fought with the world to get him out. I was just blinded by love. I should have known. Even when he was in jail, the only thing he was worried about was his case. Never had he asked how were people at home, or about the mother who burst into tears just by thinking of him. He was keen on getting out. His inmates had suggested that he get a senior lawyer for the bail plea. I did what he asked, we hired one after consulting our then lawyer,” Sekhar says in retrospect.

He now wishes he’d never done that.

“Dashwanth was always a stubborn child. He found ways to get whatever he wanted. We put him in the best of schools. We ended up changing three schools but the complaints didn’t stop. We then decided to make him write his class 10 board exams privately, thinking that the schools were too strict on him. In fact, he did well and scored above 450. That made us hopeful. We admitted him in CPT College in Tharamani,” says Sekhar adding that he started seeing changes in him since 2016.

Dashwanth got involved in gambling and was in constant need of money. The family was even summoned to the police station for harassing a school girl, who he claimed to be in love with. Sekhar says it was a mutual relationship but there were other such incidents where Dashwanth resorted to extreme means.

Upon returning from the jail after around eight months, Dashwanth was a changed man. “The first thing he demanded was money when he arrived home after the bail. We didn’t give despite his repeated request.

Otherwise, he didn’t talk to us much and kept to himself. I had never caught him smoking before. After he was back, we found cigarette butts in the bathrooms and outside our house. The first red flag was when some gold rings went missing from home. We didn’t take it that seriously and left it at that.

I wish I did something then,” says Sekhar. “I guess I always knew. I just chose not to see.

But I still feel that he didn’t sexually assault her. He would have done all this for ransom and killed her in an attempt to stop her from shouting. Anyway, I don’t want to do anything for him now. The law will take its own course. I will continue to live my life and hope that my younger son forgives me. He thinks I am responsible for his mother’s death.”

As far as Babu is concerned, the fight will continue till Dashwanth is punished. “There were times that I lost hope but I believe in the judicial system. Though long, I will ensure Dashwanth gets his due. That’s the only way, I can make sure that there is no other Hasini.”

As we conclude the conversation, Hasini’s mother, who has never spoken before, comes out with a statement, “I never thought I would say this but I sympathise with Sarala.

I could imagine what she would have gone through to see her son take away her life, so brutally.”